Playing Doctor
by HarvestBeauty
Summary: Terri tries out her skills as a nurse on a reluctant Larry.


"AH-CHOO!"

Terri jumped a mile as Larry lurched forward, attempting to muffle a ridiculously loud sneeze with his hands. The noise split the air and the relatively peaceful and easy atmosphere that had settled over the room. Jack and Janet had gone out to a movie together, leaving Terri and Larry to hang out together at the apartment...Larry hadn't cared for the genre of the film and Terri had already seen it. The noise shocked Terri at first, but then it did put other things into perspective...now that she thought about it, she had noticed that Larry seemed a little less energetic and enthusiastic than he usually did. Now Terri knew why.

"You'd better take something for that." Terri warned.

"Take something for what?" Larry sniffled.

"That nasty cold you've got." Terri answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's not a cold. I don't get sick. It must be allergies or something." Larry reassured her. "It's nothing, really."

"Doesn't sound like nothing to me..." Terri muttered quietly under her breath. She reluctantly dropped the subject and they returned to watching the TV. After a few moments, Larry broke the silence by sneezing again only this time, it was a mini fit. He sneezed four times in a row in rapid succession, scarcely having the time to catch his breath in between. By the time it was over, Larry looked positively dazed. He reached for a tissue from the Kleenex box on the coffee table, sighing unhappily.

"Whew! That was intense!" He gasped out.

"Really, I think you need some medicine." Terri pressed on.

"No, I don't. I'm not..." Larry was cut off by a coughing fit seizing his body. He coughed and retched into the tissue violently. "Sick..." He finished wearily.

"Uh-huh. Sure you're not." Terri gave him a disbelieving look. She reached out and felt Larry's forehead with her hand, gasping a little in concern.

"You are very warm." She remarked softly.

"Don't you mean hot?" Larry joked, although he lacked his usual pizzazz.

"Larry, this is no joke...you've clearly caught an illness and it could turn into something very serious if not taken care of properly." Terri scolded him.

"Nah..." Larry waved her off. "I never get sick. You would not believe how long it's been since I've come down with a cold or a flu. I feel just fine...see?"

Larry flashed her a huge, yet unconvincing smile.

"You look like death warmed over." Terri deadpanned, causing Larry's smile to fall into a frown.

"Well, if you don't mind I'm going to take my very _not _sick self back upstairs to take a nap..." Larry got up off the couch and started to walk over to the door. He stopped and made it a point to turn around. "And _not _because I'm sick, but because I am quite fond of afternoon naps."

Terri stared after him, concerned. It dawned on her that whenever she, Jack or Janet came down with something, they always had each other...but Larry was on his own. He wasn't going to be on his own anymore...not if she could help it. She had to put her foot down.

"Larry!" She called after him in an authoritative tone. Something about her voice made him stop in his tracks. Terri stood up from the couch and put her hands on her hips. "Whether you go back upstairs to your place or stay down here, I'm going to take care of you no matter what...so it might as well be down here!"

Larry stood still for a long time, before sighing heavily. He slowly turned around and shuffled back over to Terri, sulking the entire time. He plopped back down on the sofa, rather cross.

"Are you this bossy with your other patients?" He asked her, grumbling.

"Only with the hard headed ones...and you're just cranky because I'm right." Terri said brightly. "I'll be right back."

As Terri dashed off to God knows where, Larry shut his eyes and thought his situation over. He loathed being sick. Luckily for him, he really did have a strong immune system and rarely ever got ill, but when he did he absolutely despised it. To him being sick was a waste of time and it sucked all the pleasure out of life. Plus, it was embarrassing. Larry liked to be strong, vigorous, fun and energetic...and shivering under the covers was the polar opposite of those things. Getting ill was such a rare occurrence for him that he didn't even have any medicine in his apartment. He cursed his luck that he should come down with something in front of a beautiful girl like Terri, even though she didn't seem to mind taking care of him one bit. Actually, she seemed almost eager to play nurse for him in a strange way. She seemed chipper at his misery and wanted to help. Larry guessed that's why she became a nurse in the first place.

Larry must've dozed off, because he awoke to Terri lightly shaking him.

"Now..." Terri said, sitting beside him on the sofa. "First we need to know how high your temperature is in order to see how sick you really are."

"But I'm not-" Larry was cut off as Terri shoved a thermometer in his mouth. He glared at her...she could've broken his teeth. Moments later, she extracted it and looked at it intently.

"103?" Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I told you I was hot." Larry croaked, smiling weakly.

"Okay, here we go..." Terri sorted through the array of things she had brought back with her, snatching the Tylenol bottle up from the coffee table first. She opened it up and dumped two white pills into the palm of her hand. Replacing the cap on the bottle she then handed the pills to Larry and picked up a glass of water, giving it to him.

"Tylenol will make your fever go down." Terri explained to him sweetly.

Larry smiled after she said that. For some reason, she reminded him of Mary Poppins singing A Spoonful of Sugar here. He popped the pills into his mouth and washed them down with a gulp of water.

"Thanks, Terri. I feel so much better now. If you don't mind, I think I'll go back up to my place now..." Larry started.

"We're not done yet." Terri informed him, a determined streak in her voice. She grasped a spoon and a bottle of cough syrup. Larry eyed the thick, red liquid as it filled the teaspoon warily.

"What's that for?" He asked, already making a face.

"To soothe your cough." Terri said simply. She carefully moved the spoon closer to Larry, mindful not to spill any. "Now open up."

Larry opened his mouth and accepted the spoon. He swallowed the medicine quickly, screwing his face up in disgust.

"Yuck!" He exclaimed. "It tastes like crap."

"It's cherry." Terri corrected him.

"Okay, cherry crap then." Larry teased. "But thank you."

"Alright, now let's get you to bed!" Terri chirped, standing up.

"Ugh..." Larry rolled his eyes. He wished he was upstairs and alone in his apartment. If he had to be sick and in bed, he'd much rather do it by himself than in front of anyone, especially Terri. "I can just stay out here on the couch..."

"Nonsense, you need a bed. I'll tuck you in..." Terri teased in a slightly sexy tone, knowing what would work on him. Sure enough, Larry sprang up from the couch, launching himself up to his feet cheerfully.

"Sounds good to me! Let's go!" Larry nodded.

Terri giggled at his rapid change in attitude. Her amusement was short lived when she noticed a dazed look come across Larry's face as his eyes glazed over. She guessed he stood up too fast and got a bit dizzy. Sick people were prone to losing their balance very easily. Larry groaned, closing his eyes. He stumbled a little bit.

"Larry!" Terri gasped out in alarm. She wrapped an arm around his waist for support, making him lean into her. "Are you alright?"

Larry opened his eyes and fixed her with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I'd give you the full patient experience." He laughed, playfully winking at her.

"Larry!" Terri scolded, swatting him on the shoulder. "That's not funny! You scared me half to death!"

"Serves you right for yelling at me earlier! And you can't hit a sick person!" Larry protested, wincing a little bit at the smack.

"I thought you said you weren't sick?" Terri said ironically. "Now, let's get you to bed."

To Larry's surprise, Terri brought him to the bedroom that she shared with Janet and not to Jack's room like he thought she would. She lead him over to her bed and wasted no time getting him settled in under the covers. Once he was comfy, Larry sighed and had finally admitted defeat.

"I never get sick! I haven't been sick in ten years! How could this happen to me?" He whined dramatically.

"It's just a cold, it's not the end of the world." Terri reassured him. She thought for a moment before continuing. "You probably got it from me."

"From you? But I don't recall you being ill with anything recently?" Larry questioned her, confused.

"That's because, unlike you, _I _never get sick." Terri said proudly. "I'm a carrier but I never actually develop symptoms. I work with sick people all the time and I've been exposed to everything under the sun. It's helped me build up my immune system."

"Wow..." Larry huffed out a laugh, which then turned into a cough. "Lucky you."

"I have an idea!" Terri's eyes brightened at the sound of Larry's rattling cough. She hurried out of the bedroom and walked into the bathroom. She opened up the medicine cabinet and scanned the contents inside, searching for something specific.

"Ah-hah!" Terri cried out in triumph when she found what she was looking for. She grabbed a small, blue jar of vapor rub and exited the bathroom. She walked briskly back into the bedroom.

"Look what I've got!" She sang. "Perfect for your congestion..."

She covered her mouth in surprise as her eyes took in the scene before her. Larry was laying on his back with his eyes closed. He was fast asleep and looked peaceful and serene.

"...Larry?" She whispered loudly, just in case. She received no answer. He was out cold.

Terri tiptoed over to where Larry lay and gently placed her hand on his forehead. When she discovered his fever had finally broken, she sighed in relief. That Tylenol must have done its job. As she watched Larry's sleeping form, it occurred to her that she had never seen him so quiet before. It was adorable. She leaned down and lightly kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Larry." She whispered.

Larry responded by rolling over onto his side, pulling the covers tighter around himself and snuggling deeper into the mattress. He muttered something unintelligible, the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

Smiling to herself, Terri quietly walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Letting out a deep breath, she walked out into the living room area and sat down on the couch. She placed the vapor rub jar onto the coffee table and leaned back, allowing herself to relax a little bit. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for a job well done.

One week later, Larry had joined the trio one fine morning for breakfast. The foursome were sitting around the kitchen table. Jack and Janet were having a side conversation that Larry was only partially listening to as he dug into his pancakes.

Terri had raised her fork full of scrambled eggs, but it never made it to her mouth. She sneezed loudly, dropping her fork accidentally and letting it clatter onto her plate. Jack, Janet and Larry jumped at the sudden, unexpected noise. Slowly, a smile came to Larry's face.

"Is miss 'I never get sick' feeling a little under the weather this morning?" Larry teased her gently.

Terri pouted and crossed her arms over her chest in a huff, her pride wounded.

Larry stood up from his chair and walked behind Terri and started rubbing her shoulders as she rubbed the bridge of her nose miserably. Her sneeze was like music to his ears and he jumped at the chance to repay her for the kindness she showed to him a week ago.

"Come on..." He said, regarding her with great affection in his eyes. "Let's get you on the couch, and then I'll bring you some orange juice and chicken noodle soup."

Terri sighed and stood up, allowing Larry to lead her out of the kitchen and into the living room, leaving Jack and Janet to stare at each other in wonder.

THE END


End file.
